The harmonium is a hand pump organ which missionaries in India had used to accompany their hymns and litanies. Somehow the harmonium caught on with Indian musicians and is now probably the most widely used musical instrument in the country.
Banning of the Harmonium
An interesting development at pre-independence All India Radio was the banning of the harmonium from use in broadcasts, Baruah writes:
"Even though the matter was raised in the Station Directors Conference in 1939 and endorsed by it, the decision came as a result of Fielden's [director general 1935-41] initiative following an article by a western expert Mr. John Foulds, who pointed out that the tempered scales of the harmonium into 12 mechanical divisions were not suited to produce microtones (shruties) which form the basis of Indian Music" (Baruah 1983:8).
Harmonium Ban Lifted
This ban was partially lifted in 1971 whereby "Top Grade" and "A Grade" artists, Qwali parties, and choral groups were permitted to use the harmonium. Despite attempts to discourage its use, the harmonium remains the most popular musical instrument in India. The reason for this is that it is socially acceptable (with regards to design, etc.) easy to play and relatively inexpensive.
Tagore's Views
Available nformation suggests that Rabindranath Tagore had also requested A.I.R. (Calcutta) to stop use of this instrument.
"[Tagore] had drawn the attention of the then director of Calcutta's AIR station, Mr Ashok Sen, in early 1938 to the use of harmonium as an accompanying instrument and even complained that the AIR was driving a "steam roller" over his songs by allowing this (Telegraph 22/02/89)
The report goes on to say that Ashok Sen brought this up with Fielden and that a ban was ultimately imposed. The conversation between Ashok Sen and Fielden was confirmed by Mr. Sen in a letter published in the Telegraph on 19/03/89.
Tagore's Reasoning
One would be inclined to think that Tagore didn't want the harmonium due to its fixed intonation or western origin. But this is not the complete picture. The initial report in the Telegraph quotes Dr Sailajarajan Majumdar, an exponent of Tagore songs, who states:
"Tagore never used the harmonium and was very much against the use of sarod, guitar, banjo, piano and accordion as accompanying instruments since these emitted loud and metallic sound, suppressing the delicate charm of his songs."
Lyrics vs Accompaniment
Tagore songs are word-centred and the melodies used in these songs are a vehicle for delivering poetry. Most of the lyrics can stand alone as poems. To the extent that instrumental accompaniment distracted the listener's attention from the lyrics, Tagore disapproved of its use. Here the issue seems to be performance style associated with particular instruments and not simply the instruments themselves. This is the "steam roller" that Tagore was referring to.
